You can go through life enduring many things. Being an endurance athlete, I have learned to endure many things: pain, tiredness, bonking, heat, cold, snow, rain, mud, thoughts of quitting, delusions; just to name a few. But endurance is different than perseverance.
Perseverance goes deeper and creates a stronger character than just enduring something. Perseverance will take you farther than endurance because is has patience in its DNA. Perseverance is Patient Endurance. It is the persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. Many times, as you attempt something, you will have to adapt, try something new and be patient with the process. Perseverance is an important component of what makes an Overcomer.
Oswald Chambers encapsulates the meaning of being an Overcomer well. He writes: “God does give us an overcoming life; He gives us life as we overcome.” You will not magically become an Overcomer with all the attributes that come with it. You have to step out into the unknown and go through the trials. That is when you are formed, molded, created to overcome. As you step into the fray, you learn to raise when you fall and grow in your life as you overcome the obstacles before you.
Start today to practice patient endurance in whatever obstacle that you are facing and over time you will see life and an overcoming spirit grow and develop in you.
Matthew Blacklock
Matt and Kerry Blacklock have worked with disenfranchised children, youth and families in Canada and Central America since 1996. They have seen the poor, hurting, abused and forgotten healed through care, family counselling and sports. They believe in the reconciliation of families and strive to see the healing of children and families in Guatemala. They love the outdoors, hiking, running, dance and all kinds of sports. They have 4 adult children: Rubi, Abby, Hayley and Liam, who have walked with them in all the crazy adventures they have gone on. Their motto in life is: “To use what you are good at to help others and inspire others to use what they are good at to help others.”